Grab bars are utilized in bathroom applications to provide support for an individual during exit or entry in a bathtub or shower, for example. Typical grab bars include a body member that is spaced apart from, and parallel to, a wall. The grab bar has end mounts that extend toward the wall such that the grab bar can be mounted to the wall. Anchor assemblies are mounted to a wall structure that forms the shower enclosure or tub surround, and the end mounts of the grab bar are then attached to the anchor assemblies.
Behind the wall structure is a plurality of studs that extend in a vertical direction from a floor to a ceiling. Sheetrock panels are attached to the studs to form the wall structure that provides an enclosed space for a tub or shower. Tiles, fiberglass structures, etc., are then attached to the sheetrock panels to provide a waterproof tub and/or shower area with an aesthetically pleasing appearance.
One feature that requires consideration during mounting is a projection dimension. The body member of the grab bar has a wall facing side and a front facing side that is opposite the wall facing side. The projection dimension of the grab bar, i.e. a gap between the wall facing side of the body member and a wall mount surface of the enclosure, must be tightly controlled to satisfy industry standards.
The grab bars must be positioned within the tub and shower areas such that they can be easily grabbed by individuals during exit or entry, for example. When positioning the grab bars on the wall of the enclosure, it would be ideal that the anchor assemblies be able to be aligned with one of the wall studs; however this is not always possible. In some mounting configurations only one of the anchor assemblies may be aligned with a stud, or sometimes, none of the anchor assemblies can be aligned with a stud.
Traditional anchor assemblies for these mounting configurations have presented some challenges. For example, when one end of the grab bar is mounted to a stud and the other end is mounted only to sheetrock, the projection dimension can be adversely affected at one end due to height variations between the two different mounting configurations.
Further, with traditional configurations, the anchor can fall behind the wall during installation. As such, the anchor cannot be removed and re-used if needed. Additionally, different anchor configurations are needed to mount different types of grab bars.
Thus, there is a need to provide a common anchor assembly that can be used to easily mount many different types of grab bars to a wall without adversely affecting the projection dimension for grab bars having different types of mounting structure. Further, the anchor assembly should not require any special tools, and should be configured to prevent mounting components from falling behind the wall during installation, as well as overcoming the other challenges presented by traditional designs discussed above.